Twinning : St Helier - Avranches Jumelage Committee

The 'Jumelage' with Avranches

History of the twinning

On Wednesday 23rd June 1982 the Parish Assembly was asked 'to
accept the invitation and formally become 'twinned' with that town,
this for cultural, educational and social exchanges'. Sid Proudley,
Procureur, proposed the twinning which was seconded by the Dean,
the Very Rev Tom Goss. The initiative came from the Conseil
Municipal de la Ville d'Avranches, and was supported by the
Constable of St Helier, Peter Baker, the Honorary Consul for
France, Monsieur Jean-Jacques Roos, and Senator Reg Jeune.
According to the JEP report of the meeting, 'only a handful of
parishioners turned up to vote on the twinning proposal (and) they
were overwhelmingly in favour of the plan', although 'one voice of
dissent was raised, that of Mr Gordon Journeaux, who said that he
was vehemently opposed to any sort of link with France'. The
twinning was formally agreed at a ceremony in Avranches in December
that year.

Recent developments

The St Helier Avranches Jumelage continued its celebrations of
its 30th anniversary with a pétanque competition held in Avranches,
followed a fortnight later by attending 'La Nuit des Jumelages', a
traditional 'bal dansant' held every two years to which
Avranches' other twin towns - Korbach (Germany) and Crediton (UK) -
are also invited. The St Helier delegation was also taken around
the recently completed 'Scriptorial', which houses the famous
illuminated manuscripts from Mont St Michel, while a Jersey oak
tree was presented to the town for planting in 'Le Jardin des
Plantes'.

Celebrating the pearl anniversary of St Helier and
Avranches

Just before Christmas 2012 a delegation from the Parish's twin
town in Normandy travelled to St Helier to mark thirty years of
jumelage. Included in the group were three of the original
architects of the link between the two communities: Maire Adjoint,
André Bazin; former director of tourism, Ursula Hau; and Conseiller
Municipal, Michel le Brun. Also present for the occasion was former
Senator Jean Le Maistre, who was a St Helier Deputy at the time of
the signing way back in December 1982, and former Constable of St
Helier, Bob Le Brocq. The event was also opened to representatives
of the other twinning associations: the partnerschaft with Bad
Wurzach, celebrating its tenth year in existence; and the geminação
with Funchal, signed just months earlier in April 2012.